Everything Burns
by Sparky Pants
Summary: When Johnny Storm is taken from their home in the middle of the night, the rest of the Fantastic 4 have nothing to go on but a broken glass. With no leads & no proof he didn't leave of his own accord, can they find him before it's too late?
1. Prologue

A/N: Um... i don't actually have anything to say - which is shocking i tell you - other than this is just the prologue, the rest will follow shortly.

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody. Don't sue me.

Everything Burns

Prologue

-

Johnny let out a pained sigh as he stared at his darkened ceiling. Everything hurt. His throat ached, his head throbbed and his muscles felt like led. He couldn't remember ever feeling so awful. "Damn flu." He grumbled to himself, struggling to slowly pull himself into a sitting position before flicking on his light. He squinted as his bedroom was illuminated, then grabbed the glass from his bedside table. He let out another grumble seeing it empty, and pushed himself off of the bed onto his feet. "Stupid flu." He grumbled again, grabbing a sweater and pulling it on over his wife beater as he headed for the kitchen. One minute he was boiling, the next he was freezing. "Make up your damn mind." He muttered to his body, shivering slightly as he made his way through the rest of the apartment, hitching up his pyjama pants as he went. Leaning over the sink, clinging to the tap, he filled his glass up quickly and drained it almost immediately before refilling it again. After his third glass, he headed over to the kitchen table and sat down heavily, leaning over and resting his head on the wood. He shivered suddenly and sat up, his feet were freezing. He stared at them trying to heat them up, but the flu had affected his powers and he was too tired and too weak to do anything other than screw up his face in concentration. He let out a grunt of annoyance as he gave up, heaving a sigh and standing up, ready to head back to his bedroom. Movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him. He frowned. "Reed?" He tried to question, seeing a shadow move across the far side of the apartment, but his voice came out as a croak. "Reed?" He tried again, a hand rubbing his throat absent-mindedly. "That you?" He squinted into the darkness as the shadow moved towards him. "What are you doing u--?" Johnny trailed off as the man drew nearer, into the light. His eyes widened, the glass slipping from his hand and smashing to the floor as realisation suddenly dawned. "You're not--"

A hand clamped over his mouth and nose before he could finish his sentence and a sickly sweet smell invaded his senses. He tried to struggle, but the man behind him was bigger, using his other arm to pin Johnny's to his side.

'Oh God. Oh God.' Johnny's mind was going a mile a minute as he tried desperately to kick out at the two men but things were quickly growing foggy. 'Flame on! Flame on!' He thought desperately, but the flu had weakened him too much and whatever he was inhaling wasn't helping. His lungs were burning for fresh air and his head was throbbing even more. Just as his vision began to blur his foot connected with his captor's knee and, released from the man's grip, he fell to the floor, sucking in as much air as possible. "Sue!" He tried to call out, but his voice came out a strangled cry. "Ben!"

There was a quiet laugh. "Give it up kid."

Before he could do anything else Johnny felt himself being hauled to his feet, the hand was replaced over his mouth and the smell once again invaded. 'No.' He thought weakly, before his vision blurred into darkness, and his body slumped to the floor.


	2. Chapter 1

Everything Burns

One

-

_One Week Earlier_

"How're you doing there, Ben?" Reed's voice was barely audible as he shouted over the roar of the flames, to his friend.

Ben grunted. "I'd be doing much better if we could speed things up a bit."

"Hang in there, Ben." Reed returned, working quickly to help as many people as possible.

The four of them were helping with a fire at an apartment building that had quickly grown out of the control of the fire department. Ben was supporting the buildings lower level frame that was threatening to collapse, whilst Reed was bringing people down from the highest floors. Inside, Johnny was leading Sue through the flames to the trapped tenants, her force field working to protect her and the three accompanying firefighters.

"This thing just keeps getting worse!" Yelled one of the firefighters, flinching as a support beam crashed onto the force field, and tumbled to the ground, splintering.

"Johnny, are there many more people trapped?" Sue questioned her brother, grimacing slightly as she concentrated on holding the field in place.

"I'll go check!" He yelled in reply, flaming on and flying through the destroyed floors to the higher levels.

"Come on boys." Sue turned her attention from her brother to the firefighters with her. "Let's get on with this," She instructed, watching as one hoisted a teenaged boy on to his shoulder, whilst the other two helped a man - who was presumably the boy's father - to his feet.

A moment later Johnny reappeared, following them as they headed down towards where Ben was holding up the exit. "Most of the people on the higher floors are being helped by Reed." He informed them. "There's an old lady about three floors up from here though, but I think… I think she might have died before the fire." He said gravely.

One of the firefighters did a double take. "You serious?" Johnny nodded. "If not, she's definitely gone now."

Sue flinched slightly at her brother's bluntness, despite knowing he didn't mean his words as they sounded.

"Are you sure she's dead?" The firefighter asked Johnny, readjusting the teen on his shoulder. Johnny nodded. "This building won't hold much longer." The man continued. "We can't risk going up for a body, we'll have to leave her."

Sue again flinched as another support beam hit the force field. "Johnny, go ahead and find us the safest route, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

Johnny nodded, flying ahead of them and gesturing for them to follow.

"About time you showed up flyboy." Ben's voice sounded strained as Johnny flew past, leading the way for Sue and the firefighters. "Yeah, that's really helpful. Adding to the flames." He grumbled, watching as Johnny returned to his normal self outside.

Johnny ignored him, turning to Reed as the older man joined him. "That's everyone from the higher levels, was anyone else left inside?"

Johnny shook his head. "Only an old lady, but she was already dead."

Reed nodded, watching as Sue and the firefighters finally emerged from the building, closely followed by Ben. There was a loud crash as parts of the building fell without his support.

"You okay?" Reed questioned them both, a hand resting on Sue's arm. They both nodded. Reed looked at Sue quizzically. "You sure?" He asked her.

She nodded again, a hand rubbing the back of her neck. "Just a little stiff, tired."

"Hey, fire boy!" The four of them turned to hear the fire chief calling to Johnny, who was frowning at how he'd been addressed. "Is there anyway you can control the fire?"

Johnny bit his lip. "I dunno, I've never tried." He shouted back.

"This thing is getting even more out of control. Can you try it?"

Johnny nodded. "No promises." He added, flaming on and flying above the blaze. He stared down at it, concentrating hard. Nothing happened. "I can't do it." He shouted down, "But I'll go in and see if there's something that's still feeding the fire."

The fire chief nodded and watched as Johnny flew down into the blaze, disappearing from sight. A moment later he reappeared, landing quickly, shouting. "There are gas cylinders in the basement, we've gotta get outta here now!" He yelled.

"Are you sure?" The fire chief asked in alarm.

"Yes!" Johnny yelled, "We've gotta go! Now!"

The fire chief nodded and immediately started barking orders at his men to evacuate.

"Come on!" Johnny yelled to the rest of his teammates, running past and grabbing his sister's arm as he went.

"No wait!" Sue wrenched her arm out of his grip and turned back to the building, putting a fore field all around it just as a huge explosion sounded. The effects were well contained within her field and she held it there until most of the flames had calmed down.

"Whoa." Ben scratched his head, his voice more audible now the flames were largely contained. "Shoulda just done that to begin with."

"No." Johnny replied in a duh tone, watching as the firefighters managed to finally get the blaze under control. "Cuz otherwise all the people inside would have suffocated."

Ben made a swipe for the younger man who ducked away smirking, his face fell however when his eyes fell upon his sister.

"Sue?" Reed was standing in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. "Sue?" When she didn't respond he shook her slightly, panicking. "Sue!"

Her eyes slid into focus and she gazed up at him. "Reed?" She asked weakly.

"Sue, Sue look at me." He said firmly, trying hard to keep her attention on him. "Sue, what is it? What's wrong?"

She shook her head once, trying to shake the dazed feeling. "I…" She trailed off before she finished her sentence, her knees giving way beneath her.

Reed rearranged his grip and caught her just before she hit the ground. "Sue!"


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you SO much for all the reviews! Please keep them coming, they are much appreciated. Let me know what you think, what could be improved, what you think should/could happen? This chapter continues from the last as taking place a week ago, but ends up back with Johnny from the prologue.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything, including Playstation and X-Box. PLEASE DON'T SUE. i'm really poor.

Everything Burns

Two

-

"For God's sake!" Sue snapped, batting away Reed irritably. "Would you stop? It's just the flu." She scowled at him, before sneezing. "Eurgh." She flopped back down on her bed, one arm draped over her forehead.

"Sue," Reed began, moving around to the other side of the bed. "We don't know what all the effects of the cloud could be. Everyday things such as the flu could affect us much worse than before we got our powers."

Sue glared. "Reed," She batted him away again as he tried to take her temperature. "**I** will affect you much worse if you don't **go away**." She finished angrily as he again came at her.

Reed frowned and opened his mouth to say something but Sue cut him off.

"Don't." She held up a warning finger. "I don't care about anything you could possibly have to say right now. I swear. It's just the flu; I don't feel any different than when I normally get sick - which is awful. Don't talk to me. I just want to lie here and sleep, or die quietly. Whichever comes first."

"You're angry." Reed said quietly.

Sue rolled her eyes. "I'm sick Reed. Really, really—"She sneezed, interrupting herself, before letting out a groan. "Sick." She finished.

"And angry." Reed added.

Sue pulled the pillow out from under her head and held it over her face. "Go away Reed." She instructed, pointing at the doorway, her voice muffled.

"Sue." Reed said patiently. "**Sue**." He repeated, slightly more firmly when she didn't emerge.

She pulled away the pillow. "**What**?"

"I can still see you." Reed pointed out.

Sue gave him an incredulous look. "Reed?" Her voice was slightly desperate. "Please? I don't care. I really don't. I wouldn't care if you could see God damn Elvis lying next to me. I just want to sleep."

Reed however wasn't listening. "The changes in our DNA must be made redundant when the flu virus infects the body's cells."

Sue practically growled. "Damn it Reed! I don't care." She swung the pillow at him. "Go away and find out and then, in like a week, maybe I'll care."

"I'll be back." Was all Reed said, turning away from her and leaving the room. Sue watched him leave, rolling her eyes. "Did you ever think maybe I'm just tired? And sick? And that's why?" She called after him. She flopped back down on the bed. "Eurgh."

Ben looked up from where he sat on the couch as Reed walked out of Sue's bedroom. "How is she?" He asked.

"Grouchy." Reed replied absently. "I want to run a few tests. It seems to be affecting her powers."

"You ever think it was just flu?" Johnny questioned, pausing Grand Theft Auto and tearing his attention away from the TV screen.

"I dunno." Reed murmured. "Extreme use of her powers caused her to pass out, and now she has no use of them. I want to check just to be safe."

"Dude." Johnny continued. "You knew she was ill before we even went to that fire. She probably just like… got over excited. It's like if you try and stand up too long when you have flu regularly. It's just not good." He shrugged.

Reed shook his head, disagreeing. "But now she can't use them at all."

Johnny rolled his eyes. "It's flu Reed. You can't do much when you're sick."

"Mr. X-Box has a point." Ben added.

"It's a Playstation Two." Johnny responded, turning his attention back to the console.

"Whatever." Ben continued. "Maybe she's just worn out."

"I still want to check. Johnny, I want to take a sample of your blood. I want to see if I can infect mine and your blood samples with the virus, so I can follow the effect it has on the altered DNA strands."

Johnny paused his game again, and turned to the older man, slightly apprehensive. "Uh… sorry Reed. No can do. Take some of Ben's blood."

Reed raised an eyebrow.

"How's he gonna do that?" Ben questioned. "I'm made of rock."

Johnny shrugged. "I dunno, through your tongue?"

Reed shook his head. "Out altercation is different to Ben's but the same as Sue's. We were all inside the station when the cloud hit. Ben wasn't. It has to be ours."

"Heh." Johnny chuckled nervously, quickly flicking to the save option of his game before switching of the console. "Sorry Reed." He jumped to his feet. "No can do. I just remembered I gotta go and uh… do this thing." He scratched the back of his head, before quickly leaving the room. "See ya."

"Wha—Johnny wait a minute!" Reed called after him, following the younger man into the kitchen.

Ben stood up and followed too, smirking. "You're not afraid are you?"

"Pssh." Johnny dismissed. "Afraid of what?" He asked, pulling on his jacket, his voice unusually high pitched.

"Johnny this is your sister's health we're talking about." Reed interjected, crossing his arms.

"I know, which is why I'll be eternally grateful for you giving your own blood sample to help her. Even though Reed, it's just the flu, you're over-reacting." Johnny replied quickly, searching for his shoes. "Have you seen my sneakers?" He questioned them.

Ben laughed. "Flame boy's afraid."

"I am not afraid." Johnny replied indignantly. "I just have to… go… somewhere." He snatched his shoes out from under the table.

"What's the matter?" Ben continued. "You can throw yourself down a mountain but can't stand a little needle?"

"I am **not** afraid of needles." Johnny replied, sounding somewhat disgusted.

"Then what is it?" Reed questioned.

Johnny shifted uncomfortably.

"Well?" Reed probed.

"Idon'tlikeblood." Johnny said quickly, moving past them towards the elevator.

"You what?" Ben asked, moving to stand in his way.

Johnny huffed. "I don't like blood. It makes me heave. And I don't like heaving, it makes me all hyperventilatitive 'n' stuff, cos I think I'm not gonna be able to stop and—"

"Hyperventilatitive isn't a word." Reed said frowning. "And Johnny, you won't even see the blood, you can just look away."

"Yeah but I'll know it's there." He whined. "Ben move, I'm gonna be late."

"For what?" Ben scoffed. "Bloods in you right now and you know it's there. I don't see you heaving anywhere."

Johnny scowled. "I just don't wanna do it alright? Jeez."

"Johnny," Reed said soothingly. "I promise, it will be fine, this is important. If we all get infected it'll be necessary to see how we're individually affected."

"Reed!" Johnny threw up his hands in annoyance. "It's the flu! That's all!"

"Yes, but with our altered state its effects could be much worse than on regular people."

Johnny grunted in disgust. "Ugh." He tried to push past Ben, who put a hand on his shoulder, steering him back round to face Reed. "I'm not doing it. Ben move."

"Johnny, it's important." Reed repeated. "It's for Sue."

Johnny turned around and scowled at him. "Eurgh." He shook off Ben's hand, ignoring the man's chuckling. "You people." He muttered.

"There." Reed said ten minutes later, patting Johnny lightly on the shoulder, after withdrawing the needle from the young man's arm. "All done."

Johnny didn't look at him, his face buried under his jacket. "Uh huh." He nodded quietly. "I'm gonna go lie down."

Ben shook his head. "Drama queen."

-

"Eurgh!" Johnny said loudly, four days later, disgusted as Reed sneezed. "This place is festering." He stood up and moved away from his sister and her fiancé, where they sat on the couch. "I swear if I catch whatever the hell disease it is you've got, I am **not** gonna be happy." He snapped, glaring at them as he headed into the kitchen. "Why haven't you cured it yet Reed? Isn't that why you keep trying to suck me dry of my blood." He muttered, sitting down angrily at the table and snatching the newspaper towards him.

"I'm still ru-ru-" Reed sneezed again. "Running tests."

"Damn tests." Johnny muttered.

"What's your problem?" Sue questioned, unimpressed with his behaviour. Her condition had largely improved since the incident at the fire, but she still had the remnants of what had now taken Reed with full force.

"Fly boy ain't feeling too good." Ben chuckled, informing his teammates.

"Shut up." Johnny shouted from the kitchen.

"Don't think I didn't hear you last night. Coughing and hacking away. I think you could be coming down with something." He sing-songed.

"I said shut up!" Johnny growled. "I will not get—" He sneezed interrupting himself. "Argh!" He through down the paper with disgust and stood up angrily. "I am going out to spend some time in the fresh, uninfected air, away from you... people." He spat, storming away, slamming the front door as he left.

Sue let out a whistle. "Well the next few days are gonna be fun."

"Don't tell me he gets worse than normal when he's sick?" Ben asked her.

"Take a guess Ben." Sue replied. "He's a nightmare."

"Kinda like you then." Reed said quietly, chuckling.

-

Johnny was vaguely aware that he was moving, though he was certain that it was not of his own accord. His muscles felt as though they were made of cement, heavy and unresponsive, whilst his eyelids may as well have been glued shut. Not that it mattered. He could feel material wrapped tightly around his head, removing his sight and adding to what was a fast increasing headache. He groaned and tried to move his arms but a sharp pain shot down them, resting at his wrists. He grimaced slightly as he tried to move his fingers, realizing that his hands were tied. He sucked in a shakey breath. He had not been dreaming. There really had been people in the apartment. He jerked suddenly, thinking of the others. Had they been taken too?

A harsh voice broke his thoughts.

"Hey." It growled. "Keep still, or I'm gonna drag you." He was told gruffly. There was what felt like a jolt, as whoever was carrying him rebalanced his weight in their arms. This was not good.

"I'm gonna be sick." He croaked out.

"Jesus." Said the voice, dropping him immediately to the floor.

Johnny groaned, the landing was painful and had sent a fresh wave of pain through his muscles and particularly to his head. He tried to get to his knees but his hands were tight behind his back and his legs were tied together. "Help?" He said weakly, hating how pathetic he sounded.

There was indistinct muttering as he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and pulled into a kneeling position. The movement made his brain pound against his skull and before he could do anything he retched, the contents of his stomach spilling out of his mouth. There was more indistinct mutterings and sounds of disgust but Johnny couldn't make them out. He retched again, sucking in a sharp breath immediately afterwards. 'Stay calm, stay calm' He chanted to himself, but paid little attention to his own advice. His breaths were growing more and more ragged with each intake and he could feel tears burning behind his eyes. "Can't – breathe" He choked, his breathing growing worse as he started to hyperventilate.

"Oh Jesus Christ." The voice muttered angrily. "Joe!" It yelled as the man released his grip, Johnny falling heavily back to the floor. "Joe you better get over here." The voice continued. "I think he's dying."

"Oh for fucks sake." The muttered response was the last thing Johnny heard before he returned to darkness.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you so much for reviews, please keep on reviewing and let me know how i'm doing. Standard disclaimer applies.

Everything Burns

Three

-

Reed rubbed his eyes, yawning, as he slowly climbed out of bed. Though he was almost over his bout of the illness that he, Sue and Johnny had all suffered, he was still feeling fragile. His muscles were stiff and ached when he moved, and like Sue had lost her powers whilst ill, his ability to stretch was definitely non-existent. Even stretching as though he was just a normal person was out of the question. His muscles felt as though they had seized up, and every movement contributed to the constant ache he felt all over his body.

He yawned again as he made his way through the apartment towards the kitchen. He needed water and aspirin, then once everything stopped aching so much he could go back to his tests. The blood samples he had taken from himself, Johnny and eventually Sue, were proving to be very interesting indeed. The virus acted in a very particular way, as could be expected, but what was intriguing was how specific its actions were. Almost as though it knew that the bodies it was infecting were distinctly different from any other it could effect. Though interested to begin with, Sue had now taken the stance that it wasn't up to him to find a cure for flu and was growing impatient with this new fixation, claiming that he should be in bed recovering. What if Doom attacked again?

Though Sue had never been the paranoid type, recent reports leaking from Latveria that Doom was once again active had all of the four quietly worried - it was no secret that Doom was less than fond of them. But Sue was especially concerned. Doom had tried to not only kill her (now) fiancé, but he had also gone specifically after her little brother, and attacked one of her closest friends. Through all that had happened in the weeks after the accident on the space station, Sue was the only one not to receive Doom's direct attention. As she saw it, this left two possibilities: Doom would come after her, as he had the others, or he would leave her and again attack the three people she cared about most. She couldn't decide which was worse.

Reed could see her point and though he hated to admit it, he— Reed's thoughts came to an abrupt stop as he stared down at the floor. "What?" He said to himself dumbly, looking down at his feet. In front of them were shards of glass, strewn across the floor around what looked like the base of a now shattered drinking glass. Reed frowned and scratched his head. "Odd." He murmured to himself, walking around the obstacle and continuing towards the kitchen. He stared blankly at the faucet as he filled his glass, and it wasn't until he had finished his drink that he realized what he'd been staring at. The silver piping had four semi-circular grooves in it. Reaching out his hand, Reed gripped the pipe, his fingers fitting into the grooves almost perfectly. "Johnny." He said to himself.

"No I'm Ben." Came a voice.

Reed jumped round quickly, a hand to his chest. "Ben! I didn't hear you."

Ben rose what would have been an eyebrow. "That flu must be affecting you worse than you thought." He told his friend, as he made his way around the room, collecting a bowl, spoon and cereal. "What about Johnny?" He questioned.

"Huh?" Reed questioned, shaking his head as if to wake himself up.

"You feeling all right Einstein?" Ben questioned, making his breakfast.

"Yes, fine." Reed replied. "What about Johnny?"

"That's what I asked you." Ben stated.

Reed frowned. "I don't understand."

Ben stared at him blankly. "I walked in and you said 'Johnny', then I said 'what about Johnny' and I think that's where you got confused." He told his friend, shaking his head slightly as he turned back to his cereal.

"Oh." Reed caught on. "No, I just… the tap." He pointed. "Johnny must have… melted it, by accident."

"I thought he was too sick to use his powers?" Ben questioned, as he began to eat.

Reed shrugged, taking a seat next to his friend. "There are still a few more tests I need to run. It's possible that the flu may not have affected Johnny as badly as it had us, or it may just not have reached that stage yet."

"You mean the kid's gonna get worse?" Ben questioned. "Great." Johnny's personality had done a complete about face upon him getting ill. No longer was he his usual, cocky, carefree self, but instead he'd become, rude, whiney and uptight. His temper flared up over the tiniest thing, and he seemed to have lost the ability to do anything himself, calling on the others to get him things and do things for him. As both Reed and Sue were also ill, the 'others' usually meant Ben, and The Thing was fast growing less and less tolerant of the young man.

"Morning."

The two men looked up as Sue walked in, looking better than she had done in days. "Morning Susie, you feeling better?"

"Much better Ben." Sue smiled, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "How are you doing Reed?"

Reed shrugged. "Still a little stiff and achey, but I think I'm getting there."

"Oh my God, this is amazing, I can actually taste the coffee!" Sue grinned. "I'm glad you're feeling better Reed. Maybe some fresh air would help?" She questioned. "We're running out of food, I was gonna go grocery shopping later, we could walk down to the store together if you're up to it?"

Reed couldn't help but smile to himself, he knew that with them both being ill he and Sue had hardly been able to spend any time together. Even if it was only the grocery store, he knew this was Sue's way of getting them to do something with each other that didn't involve germs. "Sure, what time were you thinking of going?"

Sue shrugged. "I'll wait 'til Johnny wakes up and ask him if he needs anything." She took another sip of her coffee. "Oh, by the way, did one of you two break that glass or was it him?"

Reed shook his head. "Wasn't me." He told her, pulling the newspaper on the table towards him.

"Where's a broken glass?" Ben's spoon was hovering half way between his mouth and bowl, an odd expression on his face.

Sue frowned. "In the hall way." She gestured.

Ben's spoon lowered, Reed stared at him oddly. "It wasn't there last night?" Ben questioned.

"Not when I went to bed." Sue told him.

"Ben, are you alright?" Reed questioned.

Ben ignored him, dropping his spoon into the bowl and standing up, marching out of the room.

"Ben?" Sue called, putting down her coffee and hurrying after him with Reed. "Ben what's going on?"

"Ben!" Reed repeated, following him towards Johnny's room.

By the time they got there Ben was facing them, filling the doorway. "Johnny's gone." He said seriously.

Sue frowned, pushing past him. "What do you mean he's gone?" She questioned. She put her hands on her hips, staring at her brother's empty bed.

Reed joined her, scratching his head. "He's probably just in the bathroom." He suggested. He turned towards Ben, but The Thing was gone. He huffed slightly, confused by Ben's behaviour. "Ben!" He called, heading back into the apartment. "Ben, what are you doing?"

Ben appeared a moment later. "He's not here." Reed could detect a small trace of panic in The Thing's voice. Ben scratched his head. "I thought it was just a dream…"

"You thought what was just a dream?" Sue questioned him, her voice belying the worry that had settled in her stomach. "Where's Johnny?"

"Last night I thought I heard someone in the apartment… voices. But it was really late and I thought I was just out of it you know? I thought it was a dream… I heard Johnny get up and get a drink, and then more muffled voices and a glass smashed… I thought it was a dream." Ben's voice was a mixture of guilt and barely subdued panic.

"It probably was just a dream." Reed offered.

"Johnny's gone!" Ben implored.

"Why would a dream like that make you think Johnny was gone?" Sue asked slowly.

"It sounded like someone was struggling, but I figured he was just trying to clear up the glass… and then someone said something like give it up kid. I thought maybe he just went to bed…" Ben trailed off and was silent for a moment before banging his fist down on the table in the hallway. It collapsed under his hand.

"Ben!" Sue let out involuntarily.

"I should have checked!"

"Ben, I'm sure he's fine. You know Johnny, he's probably just gone out somewhere." Reed tried to reassure the larger man.

Sue glanced at Reed and bit her lip, she knew perfectly well – just as the others did, that in his current state Johnny was not up to going anywhere, least of all alone, in the middle of the night.

"I hope you're right Stretch." Ben mumbled. "I hope you're right."

-

Johnny didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he felt the rope that was tightly binding his hands together loosen. He had long ago lost feeling in his fingers and his arms were aching from being pulled behind him so tightly. It was a huge relief that his movement was no longer so restricted, but the blood flowing freely back into his veins burned, and brought stinging to his eyes.

"Don't try anything funny." Said a gruff voice, the same that had been carrying him earlier. He didn't know how much time had passed since then, or since he had been taken. It could have been days, it could have been minutes, he had no idea. The blindfold was still wrapped tightly around his head, and he'd been given no indication as to whether it was night or day.

Hands gripped him roughly on the arms and pulled him to standing. "Stay here. **Don't** move."

Johnny did as he was told and waited quietly, listening. There was some muttering and what sounded like someone trying to move something very heavy, before something scraping along the floor. He jumped as a hand gripped his calve and the rope around his ankles was cut. "Move." Said the voice, pushing him forwards.

Johnny stumbled, moving slowly, unable to see. He hated feeling so vulnerable, he'd tried flaming on four times since he'd been taken, and each time he'd only succeeded in making himself feel more ill and weak. He shivered, as there was a sudden drop in temperature.

"Ah!" He let out a pained cry of surprise as the man grabbed his hair and yanked his head back.

"Make yourself comfortable." The voice hissed in his ear, ripping off the blindfold and shoving Johnny to the ground.

Before he could even get to his hands and knees, he heard a heavy door shut behind him and locked. Johnny shivered again; unable to understand why gaining his balance was so difficult. Maneuvering himself against a wall and leaning heavily against it, he squinted in the dim light. "Oh God." Johnny's voice was barely a whisper as realization dawned. He was locked in a freezer.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: I didn't really like the last chapter, so hopefully this one is better. Thank you so much for the reviews though, in particular Frost, yours made me laugh (I enjoyed my crackers), and hopefully this chapter will help clear up your musings. Please keep reviewing, constructive criticism is appreciated. And sorry this one took a while; I got into Uni (yay!) so many forms had to be filled in. Standard disclaimer applies.

Everything Burns

Four

-

It didn't take long for panic to set in. The culmination of the night's events had Johnny's heart pounding in his chest, and it was all he could do to stop himself hyperventilating. The cold was already starting to get to him, and the knot of panic in his stomach tightened as he remembered a lecture Reed had given him once. Unlike the rest of the four's powers, Johnny's abilities were somewhat elemental and therefore dependent on the environment around him. He cursed himself now for not paying more attention, but he knew the general gist of what Reed had been saying; cold was bad, warm was good. That being the case, Johnny thought to himself, he was **so **screwed. How was he supposed to keep himself warm sat in a freezer wearing nothing but his pyjamas and a sweater? Slowly feeling his way towards the wall, unable to see well in the dim light, he leant against it, pulling his knees towards his chest and pulling his sweater over them, stretching it down to his toes. He clenched his jaw together to stop the shivering that was already setting in and tried to ignore the cold that was seeping through his pyjama pants. He was too ill to try and flame on again, but if he didn't try soon he'd be too cold to do anything but sit there. He rested his head on his knees trying to stay calm in the face of his predicament, wondering whether they were going to leave him there to die, wondering whether they realized he'd die sooner than anyone else unfortunate enough to be locked in a freezer. Who the hell were they anyway? And what did they want with him? And what about the others? His thoughts turned to his family and his stomach knotted again. Had they been taken too? Did they realize he had? Did they even care? He'd been less than pleasant the last few days, they might be glad he was gone for a while. He shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind. No. That wasn't what was happening. He was sure he would have noticed that one of the others had been taken too. Heard them maybe? Which meant that right now they were looking for him and that in the mean time all he had to do was concentrate on not freezing to death.

-

"It's been hours." Sue turned from staring out the window to face Ben and Reed. "He wouldn't go out this long, not in his state. You heard him the last few days; he can't do anything for himself." She paused biting her lip. "Something must have happened to him."

"We have to think logically about this." Reed told her from where he sat on the couch. "It's not impossible that something came up that he had to go and take care of it." He offered.

"Something came up?" Sue questioned, her voice higher than she'd intended. "Reed this is Johnny we're talking about! His life consists of girls, cars and computer games! What could possibly have come up? A Street Fighter tournament?" She huffed and turned back to the window in an attempt to hide the panic on her face. "He's reckless but not stupid. He'd have let us know."

"He didn't when he went to the X games." Reed pointed out.

"He wasn't 'dying of the flu' at the X Games Reed!" Sue replied, quoting her brother as she span round to face her fiancé.

"I know Sue, I know." Reed attempted to soothe her. "I'm just trying to look at this from all angles. We have to consider all the possibilities. There's every likelihood that he thought he was well enough to go out. You know how much he hates being stuck inside."

"Go out before nine am? Reed, Johnny hasn't been up before noon since he was twelve!" Sue was growing more and more agitated now.

"Sue." Reed began, standing up and heading over to her. "Sue you need to calm down, he's probably just—" For the first time The Thing spoke up, interrupting Reed.

"Someone took him." Ben's voice was lower than usual, darker.

Reed and Sue both turned to look at him, shocked.

"No." Reed said after a moment. "No, Johnny wouldn't have let that happen, he'd…" He trailed off, realizing that his reasoning didn't work.

"He's been too sick to use his powers." Sue murmured quietly. There was another heavy pause. "We have to go to the police! Or-or do something!" Her voice grew higher as she spoke.

Reed shook his head, sitting back down on the couch. "We can't. We have nothing to prove he didn't just decide to leave himself."

"We at least have to report him missing!" Sue exclaimed.

"No, Sue, we need to think about this logically—"

"Logically! Reed! Johnny is—"

"Sue!" The tone of Reed's voice made his fiancé stop and listen. "If Ben is right, if Johnny has been taken, reporting him missing might put him in danger from his captors."

"We don't **know** he's been ta—"

"We have to consider all possibilities Sue, we don't want to make this worse than it—"

"Worse! How could this be worse?" Sue's voice was a mixture of panic and anger. "Johnny is gone Reed! He's just gone! If he's too sick to use his powers, he's too sick to just up and leave! Something has happened to him!"

Reed stared at where he assumed his fiancé was standing, by now she'd faded entirely from sight. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it, reconsidering.

Sue scowled. "In two hours, if we haven't heard anything, I'm going to the police." She growled, flickering back into view and stalking past Reed and the silent Ben.

"Where are you going?" Reed called after her, standing up and following.

"To find out what happened to my brother." The elevator doors closed before Reed could respond.

Reed turned to Ben, an exasperated look on his face. Ben spoke before Reed could say anything. "I'm with Susie." He grumbled. "We need to find out what happened to him. But you're the brains of this outfit, you tell me how we can do that, and I'll do it."

Reed again opened his mouth to respond, but instead heaved a heavy sigh and returned to the living room.

-

Johnny was no longer able to control the shivering that had over taken his body. He'd tried everything he could think of, save flaming on, but nothing was helping, and by now he was so cold he could hardly think straight. He had never felt this cold, never in his entire life, and he was fairly sure that that was a bad sign. If he didn't warm up soon there was every likelihood that he never would again. He rested his head down on his knees and squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating hard in an effort to still his shaking body. "Come on Storm. Get a grip." He murmured to himself, clenching his teeth tightly together. It didn't work, he was still shivering, if not more so than before, and he felt colder too. He had one chance left. It'd put him out of action for a while, but it was his only hope, and at least he'd be warm. Slowly pushing himself to standing he stared at the door in front of him as something to concentrate on, gritting his teeth again. Then, without warning, burst into flame, shocking even himself. For a moment he felt wonderful, the warmth filled his body and his illness seemed to disappear, as he raised a few feet from the ground. He looked down at himself, grinning at the flames that licked his body, before he noticed is reflection. "Wha..?" He whispered to himself, he looked back up and his face fell. The ice was melting, fast. He began to panic and flew towards the freezer door, but with the burst of energy came an increase in temperature and before Johnny knew what was happening, the room had flooded, extinguishing his flame and leaving him emerged in freezing cold water deep enough for him to have to swim to stay afloat. He gasped, as the water seemed to freeze him from this inside and flailed desperately for something to hold onto, before the dim light in the room faded out and everything went black.


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Sorry this took so long, had stuff going on. Also, there's some swearing in this. Only one or two? Just so people know, as i'm aware some of you don't like it. Please keep reviewing, i love them ) Standard disclaimer applies.

Everything Burns

Five

-

Joe stared down at the prone and naked figure that lay sprawled at his feet, unconscious and almost blue with cold in the puddle of water that was now receding from around him. Joe sneered. Stupid kid. He prodded the young man with the toe of his foot, looking for some response. Getting none, he trod down on the blonde's wrist, applying pressure until he heard a small whimper escape the figure's lips as the pain forced him into consciousness. He grinned maliciously to himself and applied his full weight, hearing a satisfying crack and another whimpering cry. He threw the clothes in his hand at the man on the floor looking at him with utmost disgust.

"Cover yourself." He spat. He turned on his heel muttering as he left, the young man on the floor quietly weeping. "Filthy little shit."

-

"Is he still alive?"

Joe looked up as he entered the room. "Just." He muttered. "I'm surprised he didn't drown."

A thoughtful look passed across the other man's face before he spoke. "The freeze box was designed to prevent that… **I'm** surprised he had the energy to ignite at all. The virus should have ensured that that wasn't possible." He paused. "It's a shame about the flood mechanism." He continued, referring to the device that he had designed for the freezer, created to flood the small room with water should the temperature rise too much. "It would have been interesting to see how long he could sustain his flame whilst infected."

"It's a shame he didn't drown." Joe replied, his voice bitter as usual. "Disgusting little freak."

"Tolerance Joe." Came the reply.

Joe looked as though he was about to respond but seemed to change his mind at the last minute. "How are we going to get the others?" He questioned eventually.

The briefest of scowls passed across the other mans face. "By now the others will have recovered from the virus. We'll have to use what we have to our advantage."

Joe cast a glance towards the door he had just walked through. "Grimm will still be a problem." He nodded his head towards the door. "He'll sort the Richards', but Grimm…" Joe trailed off.

"I'm sure we can find a way to persuade him. He can't hate the 'Torch' **that** much."

Joe stared at his cousin, unable to decide whether or not he could go as far as the other man, even where the disgusting little deformity that lay in the next room was concerned. "Just tell me when Leonard." He replied quietly, heading towards the door that would lead him outside. "Just tell me when."

-

Leonard watched as Joe left the room, and sat quietly for a moment, contemplating what to do next. Making a decision he got to his feet and followed through the door his cousin had used, but instead of heading to the exit, he instead went towards the residential area of the empty complex. Leonard had learnt enough in his years working for Victor Von Doom to knowhow to manipulate the system. It hadn't taken long for him to secure the complex as a base of operations. Formerly a testingcentre for some of the company's more… sensitive products, it was now a base of operations for the recovering Dr. Doom. It had been easy to fool people into thinking he had shipped the 'petrified' company head back to his home Latveria, whilst instead he brought him here. Calling in favors from nearly half of Victor's associates, all of whom owed him in some way or another, the effects of the Fantastic Four's attack had been reversed, but at a cost. The man was weak, and barely able to sustain consciousness when first he was freed. He was now recovering but he would never return to his full strength, not naturally anyway. The resulting idea had been a collaboration of both Leonard and Doom himself. If Doom's powers would never fully recuperate, he would have to take somebody else's. A machine had been designed and built, and now all that was needed was the… donators.

"Sir?" He called quietly, slowly pushing the door open.

"Come in Leonard." Doom's voice was husky and deeper than usual.

Leonard walked into the room towards where his employer sat, slumped heavily in his chair. The room was simple, a bed, a television, computer, table and adjoining bathroom, nothing like the luxury Doom was used to. "The uh… The Torch, Sir. He flooded the freeze box. It seems he may be more powerful than we originally expected."

"He's still infected with the virus?" Doom questioned slowly.

Leonard nodded. "It's at its peak."

"And he still managed to flame on?" Leonard nodded once more. "How long had he been in there?"

"Around thirty minutes."

Doom went quiet for a moment, murmuring to himself. "An act of desperation." He said finally. "It's the only explanation." He chuckled to himself. "He must have thought he was going to die. Johnny's careless but not stupid. He must have realized that the cold would kill him much sooner than it would anyone else."

Leonard nodded. "His body readings suggested so. I was going to have him moved for the time being, lest he die before the plan can be completed." There was a pause. "Would you like to see him?"

A malicious smile slowly crept over Doom's face. "Yes I… I think I would."

-

Johnny rested his head on his knees, his wrist gently cradled between his body and his legs, as he sat against the wall. He'd wasted no time in dressing himself, the tone in the man's voice one that scared him far more than anything elsein his predicament. Dressed now in a simple white t-shirt and an old, worn pair of jeans, he sat quietly waiting, trying to subdue the tears and pain that his broken wrist was causing. He wouldn't let his mind wonder over the possibilities as to why he was here. There were some that sprang to mind, some that he wouldn't let himself think about, formed around stories he'd heard and news reports he'd seen… 'anti-mutant' groups. He shuddered and grit his teeth, trying to hold back a sob. There had been some awful stories about the 'anti-mutant' groups, some he hadn't even been able to listen to all the way through. He shook his head, as if to clear it and tried to think of something else, trying to focus on how he could escape. He sighed as he realised how impossible thatwould be. He was still cold, still wet, and still sick. Dressing himself had been difficult enough, there was no way he'd be able to defend himself. As if on cue the door across from him opened andhe looked up startled, unable to see who the silhouetted figure was, silently begging that it was Reed.

"Hello Johnny."

Johnny's face fell as he recognized the voice. "You." Johnny replied, his voice just as weakened as the man opposite him, as he tried to push himself to standing.

"Indeed." Doom slowly entered the room, a metal walking stick gripped in his hand, helping him make his way towards the younger man.

Johnny tried to look menacing. "What do you want?" His voice was raspy.

Doom moved towards him, even in his weakened, almost crippled state; he was still bigger than Johnny. Johnny tried not to look intimidated as Doom bore down on him. "I want you." Doom said quietly, reaching his spare hand up to Johnny's face.

"Don't touch me." Johnny spat, shoving Doom back with his uninjured hand.

Doom growled, grabbing the young man's wrist, steadying himself from falling. "You know Johnny..." Doom began, shoving him against the wall, pinning his wrist against it. His voice held barely contained anger and as Johnny tried to shove him with his other shoulder. Practically snarling,he used his walking stick to trap Johnny's broken wrist, before continuing, "You've always been a bit of a hot head."Doom smirked, twisting the stick so Johnny had to bend unwillinglyto easethe pain that shot through his wrist. "But don't worry." He released the younger man, who stumbled, cradling his wrist to his body. "I'll take care of that." Doom turned on his heel and left, but not before striking his former employee across the face with the walking aid.

-

Johnny waited until the door was closed and the footsteps had died away, before he let himself cry. His wrist felt as though it was on fire and not in the good way,whilst his head was throbbing from where Doom had struck him. He bit his lip as the pain in his wrist seemed to intensify, and didn't even realize how hard he had until he tasted the blood in his mouth. Spitting it out he tried to calm himself; the others would find him soon. They had to, otherwise… His thoughts trailed off. What had Doom meant when he'd said that he'd wanted him. What did Johnny have that Doom could possibly want? Johnny shuddered. He didn't want to think about it. Whatever it was, Johnny knew Doom would take it, and there'd be nothing Johnny could do to stop him, not alone anyway. A fresh wave of tears and hopelessness overcame him as realization began to dawn, if the othersdidn't find him soon... he'd never get out of here alive.


End file.
